Many animals kept as pets are gregarious by nature and may become uncomfortable or distressed when alone. This is particularly the case with animals, such as but not limited to puppies, that have recently been removed from their mothers and litter mates and are experiencing the lack of constant companionship for the first time. Puppies, for example, often become very distressed when left alone, and communicate their discomfort by yipping, crying, or howling. Many mature animals as well appear to be much happier with companionship. There has been a long recognized need for a means of soothing or calming animals in solitary situations, for the comfort of both the animal and the owner.
One often suggested approach to solving this problem is placing a loudly ticking clock in the animal's bedding, in an effort to simulate the sound of the heartbeat of a mother animal or littermate. This approach, though occasionally helpful, is far from fully satisfactory. A ticking clock does not closely replicate the sound of a heart and does not provide any tactile sensation, and is often completely ineffective in soothing the animal. Other approaches to soothing a distressed animal, such as placing a source of heat in the bedding, are also usually not very effective and can create a risk of injury to the animal.
Heartbeat simulator devices, which produce either or both rhythmic vibration and sound, are known in the prior art, but the teaching of the prior art regarding such devices is toward their use solely by or for humans. The use of such a device for soothing infants is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,876, which discloses a child calming toy, in the form of a stuffed animal or the like, with an internal device that produces a rhythmic movement and sound to simulate a heartbeat. The heartbeat simulator device has a pressure sensitive switch that activates the simulator when the toy is hugged or its chest is pressed by a child. Although appropriate for a child, the toy disclosed by this patent is not well suited for soothing an animal, because of the configuration of the stuffed toy. The prior art has not addressed the use of such devices for soothing animals or the provision of and has not addressed the different needs and requirements for effectively soothing and comforting animals.